BCSEA Kamloops' Superheroes Interviews

Daniela Ginta

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Kamloops Sustainability Leaders Share Their Thoughts

When the team led by Kamloops resident and BCSEA local chapter volunteer James Gordon started working on the ‘Everyday Sustainable Energy Superheroes’ project, the expectation was that they would deliver a well-rounded exhibit of good sustainable deeds in the community. Pretty straightforward, right?

There were meetings, interviews, and revisions of ideas until the big day came: the exhibit opened on January 14th, 2017 at the Kamloops Art Gallery. The 11 interviews with people from the community who go above and beyond to live sustainably have been a surprise in more than one way. Click here to see them!

They were meant to be inspirational, yet their thought-provoking nature is a statement in itself about the need to redesign our lives with sustainability in mind. Just listen to Mendel and Saul Rubinson talk about bees, shopping locally and using clotheslines. Or watch Charles Hays explain the steps of switching your mindset to live sustainably.

Opportunities to do so are everywhere is what you find yourself thinking as you watch the interviews. Michael Mehta, Donovan Cavers and Marcia Dick will help you see them; they live through them daily. The Gleaning Abundance Project will enrich your idea about a sustainable community in how they deal with produce abundance: through kind work donated by volunteers, which eventually becomes food for the needy. The circle of life redefined.

The ‘magic’ of the interviews that took a heroically long time to edit (just ask James Gordon and Bill Hadgkiss, the team video magicians) is that they do not make you shrug and think about the difficulties of living sustainably. The thought that comes to mind again is again is close to ‘I can do that.’ Maybe you will not build a co-op like the Rare Birds any time soon, but the ideas Dan Hines outlines will inspire you to change a few things around the house.

If you’re not ready to leave the car behind for exclusive biking like Anne Grube did, you will at least feel the need to try it every now and then. Motivation comes from opening our eyes to the world. Getting a bit out of your comfort zone opens the door to freedoms of a different kind. If you’ll stop by the Farmer’s Market to chat with Anita and Dalton Strong you’ll understand how that happens.

If a project like the Darfield Earthship may seem intimidating, the earnest opinions Sandra Burkholder and Chris Newton share will add heaps of hope to all those who think of taking the less beaten path. Or, if you’ve ever thought going solar is challenging, just listen to what the three Riverside Energy partners, Greg Lambertus, Ben Giudici and Paul Fletcher have to say about it.

What is the viewer invited to ponder on after watching the interviews? That you have to lead by example and every little thing counts, that when people in a community think alike good things happen, and most importantly, that change happens, which we need plenty of to keep our world alive and thriving. Last but not least, that we’re in it together. Superheroes like the ones featured in the abovementioned interviews are graciously pointing to it.

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